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Uyuni and the salt flats23 May 2008
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| Another early day, and a day of driving to get to Uyuni and the largest salt lake in the world. We passed small settlements, llama farms and vicuna wild in the fields around us. We had a few stops along the way, but by the afternoon had sped onto the salt lakes, and were racing across the flat white plains of Uyuni. It's a breathtaking sight; the blazing white of the salt stretching away to meet the cloudless blue of the sky. And there's nothing to see but salt and sky for miles. It's so white that any mountains you can glimpse in the distance appear to be floating. After the obligatory stop for photos, we headed to the island in the middle of the lake, Incahuasi, which is completely covered in cactii. Apparently it was an island that lay beneath the lake 40,000 years ago, and gradually moved to the surface through a combination of volcanic activity and natural droppage of the lake levels. After a wander about on the summit, it was back to the jeeps and a race between each one across the plains. We stopped to watch the sunset, which wasn't actually as spectacular as you might hope! Then back for race number two to get to our hotel at Tahua, at the foot of another volcano. By the time we made it there, it was full dark. But oh, when we arrived at the hotel! It was made completely from blocks of salt, as was the furniture inside the dining room, and owned by the same tourism company that owned the desert hotel (and under the same community build project). Thankfully, it also had a roaring fire, which Paul proceeded to try and immolate Shona and I on by throwing a vast amount of oil on it as we sat with our backs cosily warming. We had a great meal, and then musical entertainment from a group of men from the village; 'Hijos de Tahua'. |
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